Help with Quebec and Montreal
 

My partner and I are planning a trip with my recently widowed Mother (age 70) to Quebec City and Montreal in the late Spring. We plan to fly in and out of Montreal and take the train to Quebec City and back. I'm planning on 4 days in each City.

The help: Suggestions for nice, city center, reasonably priced accommodations. I'm not very picky, but my Mother isn't as adverturesome as I. She would prefer someting more traditional with nice rooms and bathrooms. Nice location is a must.

Is 4 days in each City enough to see the important things and get a taste of the Cities?

Thanks for your help. Peabody.

Hello Peabody,

Were your questions by any chance answered by BAK's response in the luxury hotel for older folks thread at

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29

If BAK's response did not suffice, what else would you like to know? Are you perhaps looking for hotels that, while nice, are not in the luxury category? If so, what is your price range? Specifications that are more ... well ... specific will help responders to target their responses more accurately.

Arghhh! The thread's URL actually is

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34466482

We're looking for something nice but not necessarily in the "luxury" category. I'm looking for something in the $100-150 US per night range. Location and character are probably more important than price.

Peabody

I've never been to Montreal or Quebec City, but did a bit of general searching on the Internet.

A Montreal hotel that jumped out from the Google results, because it struck me as charming, was the Auberge du Vieux Port. Its prices do seem, however, to be at the highest end of the range that's acceptable to you (and perhaps even a bit higher than that). (Please keep in mind that, as I said earlier, I've never been to Montreal.)

http://www.aubergeduvieuxport.com/

I then did a search for the Auberge du Vieux Port here at Fodors to see if there was any feedback about it from Fodorites. The hotel evidently has been mentioned several times around here. The comments I saw were favourable. The following thread seems to be representative of opinions about the place.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34428510

As far as Quebec City is concerned, the price range you mentioned brings up places like the Holiday Inn which, while it probably is clean and comfortable enough, is unlikely to be as traditional as you may be hoping for (I imagine).

One promising contender in your price range is Manoir Lafayette Hotel. It's located at 661 Grande-Allee Street, which I'm afraid means nothing to me because, as I said, I've never been to Quebec City. In the hotel's blurb about itself, it claims to be a centrally located, charming building of Victorian vintage. Judging from the photo on the website, the exterior of the building looks quite pleasant, certainly not like a chain hotel.

http://www3.itravelcanada.com/hotel/...3f9fa562d29426

As in the case of the Montreal hotel, I then did a search for Manoir Lafayette here at Fodors. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any feedback on Manoir Lafayette here.

You could continue this search by looking for HOTEL MONTREAL and HOTEL QUEBEC here at Fodors.

Also, I don't know what you mean by "late spring." (Late spring would mean one range of dates to me in Calgary and another range of dates to someone in, say, Cincinnati, Ohio.) You might want to do a Google search for Montreal's and Quebec City's weather during the specific month in which you want to visit.

Good luck with your trip.

There are so many nice bed and breakfast places in Quebec City! Many are on Ste Ursule. There is a gay B&B that is straight and gay/with family member friendly called Coureur des Bois. It is a very nice place and the guys that run it are wonderful and excellent cooks. The breakfast is to die for. Primarily it is a gay place but I've been there when I've met guests with their parents or straight friends. Another place right next door is called Maision Acadia which is supposed to be reasonable and nice. Its not gay but probably gay friendly like most places in the city. Whatever your choice, stay in old city and preferably within the walled city. Have a great time and I know that your mom will enjoy her stay.

We always stay at the Hilton in Québec City. It's nice and it's connected to a shopping mall "Les Galeries de la Capitale" if I'm not mistaken.

You can probably check out Hilton's web site and confirm the above info.

Richard

I recently stayed at the Manoir Victoria in Quebec City and it fits your criteria. It is located in the Old City at the top of the hill above the train station. It is beautiful and the people working there are very gracious. Check out their website for more info.

Montreal:
Location and character would be downtown. Vieux Montreal is lovely but you would be traveling everyday to see the rest of the city.
You can stay in the heart of the city and spend a day in the Old City.
I am not sure of prices, as we stay at the Le Germain every trip, but look into the Omni, The Ritz (older people like the Ritz-based on the number of older people we know who go there)..the Intercontinental (I think) gets a lot of good reviews as does the Chateau Versailles.
There is a trip report from November where a lady stayed in a small B&B in the Plateau area that might be nice for you also..
We stayed in a small hotel in Quebec that was a converted house, we had to use stairs to go to our room, which might not be great for your mom, after a day of sightseeing.
Try a text search here, there are many threads about hotels in both cities.
Personally-I would add a day to Montreal and stay in QC for 3 ...

Your mother will love Château Versailles on Sherbrooke St. near Guy. A sure thing and I would think in your price range.

I would definitely stay in Old Québec. There are many small and very pretty hotels. There is also le St-Germain in Old Québec. Maybe a bit pricey but it's wonderful. Have a good time.

I mentioned the Hotel Manoir Victoria in Quebec City in an earlier reply. I was able to receive a better rate from hotels.com than directly from the hotel.